Loveland's Jordan Rausch, at left, and Windsor's Kelsey Steffens celebrate winning the national title with the U18 FC Boulder team. / Courtesy of Julie Steffens

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Kelsey Steffens and her teammates on the U18 FC Boulder girls soccer team lived out a fairy tale in July.

FC Boulder beat the Smithtown Kickers from New York 1-0 to win the National Premier League Champions Cup on July 22 in Aurora.

But the tale of how Steffens, a Windsor High School senior, and FC Boulder earned that crown is something straight out of a movie script.

FC Boulder wasn’t even supposed to be in the tournament. About a week before play started, they were asked to enter as a replacement team after a regional qualifier was unable to travel. Steffens said the team had two practices, with about 10 girls at each practice, before play started.

In its first game of pool play, FC Boulder lost 3-1 to the Smithtown Kickers. Boulder then won its next two games to advance out of pool play, which eventually led the team to a rematch with Smithtown in the championship game.

FC Boulder, with Steffens helping lead the charge, dominated, but couldn’t score.

“It was very overwhelming,” Steffens said of the final. “It was nerve-wracking not to be able to score because we had so many chances.”

Then in the waning seconds of the second overtime, Cassie Owens of Monarch scored to give FC Boulder the unlikely 1-0 victory.

Steffens, who has committed to play at Fort Hays State in Kansas, said winning the title was an unreal feeling and one she’ll never forget.

“For me, it sunk in the next day,” Steffens said. “At first it felt like we didn’t win that big of a tournament, but the next day I was like ‘Whoa! We’re national champions.’ ”